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Reasons to Fight

Negrek

Lost but Seeking
Disclaimer: Not mine is pokémon.
Rating: G
Author’s Notes: Inspired by a moveset that was very popular back in the days of R/B/Y. Standard can-you-guess-the-pokémon fare. And this is a one-shot, btw.

Reasons to Fight

Sometimes I wonder what it will be like to forget how to forget.

For surely there will come a day when you call out that same command you always do, ask me to purge still more of my past from my mind, and I will be able to do nothing but turn to you with blank eyes, not understanding the meaning of the word “amnesia” and having long forgotten the notion of memory. It is fading more quickly, now; there are only months left, and days vanish with each battle we complete.

You tell me that amnesia is a powerful attack. Memories are only a distraction, you say. So cluttered with emotion are they, emotion that your opponents can turn against you with their guile. Power flows readiest to the empty mind, one not cluttered by extraneous thoughts and old wounds. Let go your past; what care have you for it anyway?

I think I must have cared, once. Who wouldn’t be reluctant to part with memories of their childhood, of their family and their home? But such knowledge is long gone. It was the first to go, consumed by ambition, sacrificed in exchange for power. Now there is nothing worth remembering, only battling and winning and forgetting.

Now the farthest back I can think is to just last month—it was a sunny day, as it is always a sunny day in this land. Rain is a concept I can no longer understand, for it has not rained within the span of my memory. I hope that it storms again soon, so that I might be able to hold onto the image of it, if only for a brief time before that, too, is given up to the amnesia. Yes, rain—with thunder and lightning, the kind that they say peals and flashes and sounds as though it was mountains toppling. Perhaps then I could hold onto it a little longer, for who could forget something so spectacular?

But yes, it was sunny that day. Already the memory is fading, frayed around the edges. It will slide away soon, but still it is clear enough. Clear enough to see her, at least. She is young, by the standards of you humans, perhaps only five years old. How old am I, I wonder? And yes, she is young, and I see that familiar look on her face. Her eyes widen and she draws back slightly as we approach, digging her fingers into the short fur of her cyndaquil, which squeals slightly with the pain. You are looking the other way, do not see her. You tell me to wait here. You want to go into that store over there to buy something. That store no longer has a face, has already faded from my mind, but it does not matter. She is still there.

You leave, and I wonder, for I cannot remember you ever having left me alone like this. Whenever there are humans about, you are always with me. I do not understand why. You trust me, trust me to walk beside you though you know I could crush you easily with my powers. Other trainers let their pokémon walk beside them—why should you not? And yet they stare and they point, and they come running up to you, asking:

“Is that really--?”

“How did you--?”

“Is he safe--?”

Yes, safe, you tell them. And they want to speak to me, and you smile and say no, that I do not like to speak to humans other than you. This is true; they are annoying, the other humans, always staring with that fear-awe in their eyes, the kind that mingles closely with greed and jealousy, and I do not want to talk with them. But they talk to you, and they ask you how it can be that I am with you, just standing there. And you smile that secret smile and tell them that we are friends, that you trust me and know that I would never hurt you. You offer to let them shake my hand, and they eagerly accept. I shake their hand and defeat their pokémon and we move on to the next battle, the next amnesia.

Ah, but the girl! Yes, the girl on the bench with her cyndaquil. You were not there to stop me from talking to her. I was curious. It is a feeling I have rarely, curiosity, for what is the point of finding something out when you are doomed to forget it again in such a short time? But this was so different, with you gone.

I walked up to her, and she tightened her grip on her cyndaquil, but did not move to run away. She could not seem to believe my presence, acting as though it was utterly unnatural to see a pokémon walking down the street.

Hello, I said to her. Do not be afraid. I will not hurt you.

She smiled, then, and it was a smile like I have never seen, or one I cannot remember seeing. It was not like your smiles, the ones that are always sly and cunning, or proud and boastful. It was not like the smiles of the other trainers, eager and greedy and disbelieving. Hers was a smile of honesty, of pure gladness and happy disbelief.

“But why won’t you?” she asked excitedly, almost as though longing for me to destroy her. “I thought that you hated us and wanted us to die. Why don’t you kill him, that guy who pretends he is your trainer?”

He is my trainer, I said reproachfully. She looked puzzled, and I was equally so. He treats me well. I do not wish to kill him.

Of course I cannot remember how I met you. But surely you captured me from the wild, as all other pokémon are acquired. And why would I want to destroy the humans? They are the masters, who make us stronger. You were the one who taught me amnesia, taught me to unlock the power of my mind by denying the past in favor of the present.

And yet was it always this way? The scars on my wrists, old now and almost hidden by my thin fur—from manacles? But were you the one who came to rescue me, or to chain me? It does not matter now, though. You have always been good to me, so far as I can remember, and what point is there in fighting for something from a vanished past?

But the girl was continuing already, put off for a moment by my response but too excited to be silent for long.

“Is it true that you are the strongest ever?”

Yes, I told her. I am the strongest, and looking to become stronger.

“Then could you make a storm for me?”

A storm? I asked. Already the concept of storm is alien to me; I know the word, but do not know the thing that goes with it. Why would I create a storm?

“Yes, a storm like they tell about in the stories,” she replied, eyes shining. “A storm that covered the whole world in darkness and made even the great Kyogre stir in his sleep.”

All the while her cyndaquil was watching me, and I did not like the look in its eyes.

I did not know that I could do such a thing, I said to her. Tell me, what else do they say about me in stories? What else is it that I’ve done?

But she could only gape, and then at last ask, “But don’t you know who you are? Don’t you remember?”

And no, I did not. Do not. But you came running, then, the shopping bag swinging from your arm. You grabbed me and tugged me away, yelling at the girl to shut up and not speak to me. He is upset by talking to humans, you say to her. Go away.

It is a strange memory, and I do not know why it troubles me so much that I sometimes sit up at night and recall it while you sleep, as I am doing now. You ask me to guard you, and I am honored that you put your life into my hands. Even if it is so tiring, what else can I do but stay awake and watch over you? It is part of my training.

Perhaps it was what she said last. Don’t you know who you are? Don’t you remember? Such strange questions, as though one’s identity is made by one’s past. But who cares for the past? Surely I am greater than I have ever been. How could my past make me a different creature? What memories did she expect me to have that would change me, what motives drawn from them?

Yes, the memory is troublesome. But soon it will be gone. Soon they will all be gone. And then, when I at last forget how to perform amnesia, my slate will be clean. I will no longer remember forgetting, no longer remember the humans who know more about me than I do. I will be the perfect battle machine, my powers at last fully realized: my past traded at last for a glorious, victorious future. For there will be none who will be able to beat me.

And then they will no longer be able to look at me that way. The pokémon, I mean. They will know that I am the strongest ever, able to snuff their lives out on a whim.

They will not be able to look at me the way the girl’s cyndaquil did, with pity in their eyes.
 
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Sike Saner

Peace to the Mountain
Every time I read something of yours, I find choices of words that are just incredible.

You want to go into that store over there to buy something. That store no longer has a face, has already faded from my mind, but it does not matter.

Like that. I see something like that, something that's just clever. "That store no longer has a face, has already faded from my mind". I just love that. You way with words never ceases to impress me.

The language all throughout this was excellent. As in I could have quoted virtually the entire thing. Everything is just so vivid, including the parts that turn towards questions, intangible things, fading things...sorts of stuff that is just impressive as hell to see depicted so vividly.

Boss work, this. Good writing makes me smile. ^^
 

Kutie Pie

"It is my destiny."
Aww... poor Mewtwo...

Loved this. Seriously, I did.

Amnesia? A popular move in R/B/Y? I don't remember that...

Anyway, these were my favorite parts:

Negrek said:
Sometimes I wonder what it will be like to forget how to forget.

For surely there will come a day when you call out that same command you always do, ask me to purge still more of my past from my mind, and I will be able to do nothing but turn to you with blank eyes, not understanding the meaning of the word “amnesia” and having long forgotten the notion of memory. It is fading more quickly, now; there are only months left, and days vanish with each battle we complete.


What's he mean there're are only months left? I didn't get it. But that part right there got me hooked. And yes... I wonder what it's like to forget how to forget... BLAH! Confused!


Negrek said:
I think I must have cared, once. Who wouldn’t be reluctant to part with memories of their childhood, of their family and their home? But such knowledge is long gone. It was the first to go, consumed by ambition, sacrificed in exchange for power. Now there is nothing worth remembering, only battling and winning and forgetting.


Well...

Mewtwo's childhood memories were wiped clean anyway by evil Dr. Fuji.

And Mewtwo has family? (There are two things I might know of: One: YOU'RE A MEWSHIPPER ARE YOU?! Two: Mew's his mother. Which one's your support?)

Home...

He forgot about his home life... so sad... And Mewtwo has to forget everything after battle... Aw poor thing...


Negrek said:
But yes, it was sunny that day. Already the memory is fading, frayed around the edges. It will slide away soon, but still it is clear enough. Clear enough to see her, at least. She is young, by the standards of you humans, perhaps only five years old. How old am I, I wonder? And yes, she is young, and I see that familiar look on her face. Her eyes widen and she draws back slightly as we approach, digging her fingers into the short fur of her cyndaquil, which squeals slightly with the pain. You are looking the other way, do not see her. You tell me to wait here. You want to go into that store over there to buy something. That store no longer has a face, has already faded from my mind, but it does not matter. She is still there.


Oh my gosh... Mewtwo's already forgetting it... but he still remembers it...And the store's long forgotten. Wish he didn't forget the girl though...


Negrek said:
You leave, and I wonder, for I cannot remember you ever having left me alone like this. Whenever there are humans about, you are always with me. I do not understand why. You trust me, trust me to walk beside you though you know I could crush you easily with my powers. Other trainers let their pokémon walk beside them—why should I not? And yet they stare and they point, and they come running up to you, asking:

“Is that really--?”

“How did you--?”

“Is he safe--?”

Yes, safe, you tell them. And they want to speak to me, and you smile and say no, that I do not like to speak to humans other than you. This is true; they are annoying, the other humans, always staring with that fear-awe in their eyes, the kind that mingles closely with greed and jealousy, and I do not want to talk with them. But they talk to you, and they ask you how it can be that I am with you, just standing there. And you smile that secret smile and tell them that we are friends, that you trust me and know that I would never hurt you. You offer to let them shake my hand, and they eagerly accept. I shake their hand and defeat their pokémon and we move on to the next battle, the next amnesia.


Trainers are so jealous... They shake hands, Mewtwo and humans? *shudders* Never thought of it that way... And yet... he forgets them anyway...


Negrek said:
I walked up to her, and she tightened her grip on her cyndaquil, but did not move to run away. She could not seem to believe my presence, acting as though it was utterly unnatural to see a pokémon walking down the street.

Hello, I said to her. Do not be afraid. I will not hurt you.

She smiled, then, and it was a smile like I have never seen, or one I cannot remember seeing. It was not like your smiles, the ones that are always sly and cunning, or proud and boastful. It was not like the smiles of the other trainers, eager and greedy and disbelieving. Hers was a smile of honesty, of pure gladness and happy disbelief.

“But why won’t you?” she asked excitedly, almost as though longing for me to destroy her. “I thought that you hated us and wanted us to die. Why don’t you kill him, that guy who pretends he is your trainer?”

He is my trainer, I said reproachfully. She looked puzzled, and I was equally so. He treats me well. I do not wish to kill him.


Ooh look! A boy caught him! *thinks* NO! NOT ASH! (Hopefully...) You should kill him anyway for what he's doing to you!


Negrek said:
Of course I cannot remember how I met you. But surely you captured me from the wild, as all other pokémon are acquired. And why would I want to destroy the humans? They are the masters, who make us stronger. You were the one who taught me amnesia, taught me to unlock the power of my mind by denying the past in favor of the present.

And yet was it always this way? The scars on my wrists, old now and almost hidden by my thin fur—from manacles? But were you the one who came to rescue me, or to chain me? It does not matter now, though. You have always been good to me, so far as I can remember, and what point is there in fighting for something from a vanished past?


That's my very favorite. So sad. Mewtwo has no clue Giovanni did that to him. Though he thinks his Trainer must've... but then again, he sadly doesn't remember...

Negrek said:
“Is it true that you are the strongest ever?”

Yes, I told her. I am the strongest, and looking to become stronger.

“Then could you make a storm for me?”

A storm? I asked. Already the concept of storm is alien to me; I know the word, but do not know the thing that goes with it. Why would I create a storm?

“Yes, a storm like they tell about in the stories,” she replied, eyes shining. “A storm that covered the whole world in darkness and made even the great Kyogre stir in his sleep.”

This must've taken place many years from now it looks like so... FIFTEEN! Nah, I don't know...


Negrek said:
I did not know that I could do such a thing, I said to her. Tell me, what else do they say about me in stories? What else is it that I’ve done?

But she could only gape, and then at last ask, “But don’t you know who you are? Don’t you remember?”


My favorite right there. Love that quote. Makes me want to become a character in the story and tell him everything. Makes me sad to think of it...


Negrek said:
And no, I did not. Do not. But you came running, then, the shopping bag swinging from your arm. You grabbed me and tugged me away, yelling at the girl to shut up and not speak to me. He is by talking to humans, you say to her. Go away.


Now THAT was mean. Seriously, a five-year-old girl... pushed around by a Trainer... JENNY! DO SOMETHING!


Negrek said:
It is a strange memory, and I do not know why it troubles me so much that I sometimes sit up at night and recall it while you sleep, as I am doing now. You ask me to guard you, and I am honored that you put your life into my hands. Even if it is so tiring, what else can I do but stay awake and watch over you? It is part of my training.

Perhaps it was what she said last. Don’t you know who you are? Don’t you remember? Such strange questions, as though one’s identity is made by one’s past. But who cares for the past? Surely I am greater than I have ever been. How could my past make me a different creature? What memories did she expect me to have that would change me, what motives drawn from them?


Obviously, your stupid Trainer wants you to be mindless and all that. If I was Mewtwo's Trainer, I'd let him remember everything and ban Amnesia.


Negrek said:
Yes, the memory is troublesome. But soon it will be gone. Soon they will all be gone. And then, when I at last forget how to perform amnesia, my slate will be clean. I will no longer remember forgetting, no longer remember the humans who know more about me than I do. I will be the perfect battle machine, my powers at last fully realized: my past traded at last for a glorious, victorious future. For there will be none who will be able to beat me.

And then they will no longer be able to look at me that way. The pokémon, I mean. They will know that I am the strongest ever, able to snuff their lives out on a whim.

They will not be able to look at me the way the girl’s cyndaquil did, with pity in their eyes.


*chokes on tears* True... Very true... And the Cyndaquil and Pokémon pitied him because he did not know who he was... THANK YOU FOR CARING CYNDAQUIL AND OTHER POKEMON! *huggles*

Yes, I know that was, like, the whole one-shot, but it was my favorite. You are very talented with this. Can't wait for more. *hands freshly baked hot fudge cake and hugs* May the memories of Mewtwo remain...

~~~~~~~~~
♥Kutie Pie♥ FOREVER SUPPORTER OF MEWTWO!
 

Act

Let's Go Rangers!
Other trainers let their pokémon walk beside them—why should I not?

The syntax there seems a tad odd to me.

This is true; they are annoying,

True stuff. x.x

He is by talking to humans, you say to her.

What?

--

How depressing. ;.;

Anyway, I liked it. I dunno. Not my favorite one-shot of yours, but I can't really pinpoint why. Perhaps because I was never too hot on the move amnesia, and can't have one of those, "What was I doing to my pokemon???/zomg." moments like with the rattata duo one-shots. Whatever my problem, I s'pose if I can't figure it out, it's not detrimental to your life.

And randomly...*boggles at last review*
 
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Silentvibrava

Techno Teen
I really enjoyed this, Negrek. Let me quote some things that I found truely memorable.

Power flows readiest to the empty mind, one not cluttered by extraneous thoughts and old wounds.

To me this has a deep meaning. Plus, I liked the flow of language.

It was not like your smiles, the ones that are always sly and cunning, or proud and boastful. It was not like the smiles of the other trainers, eager and greedy and disbelieving. Hers was a smile of honesty, of pure gladness and happy disbelief.

Aw, that definately tells me how innocent this young girl is. Good job in that. It's not the easiest thing to describe, a child's innocence.

The scars on my wrists, old now and almost hidden by my thin fur—from manacles? But were you the one who came to rescue me, or to chain me?

I absolutely loved that line. Seems like this Pokemon is very intelligent. Now I wonder who that can be. ;p

They will not be able to look at me the way the girl’s cyndaquil did, with pity in their eyes.

What a wonderful ending. I enjoyed that line. It showed how well you can start a story then end it. Extra points on that!
~

I loved the personality you gave this Pokemon. It is a new approach, instead of the usual blood thirsty one.

The plot was good. I didn't catch a grammar mistake, but I was too busy enjoying the story to even try. The description was very individual.
 

StellarWind

The Sylvan Saber
It's been a while since I've read a one-shot so well done. ^^

First person perspective isn't easy to write, and particularily PokeMon perspective - It isn't easy to think from a non-human mind. The way you described his fading memories was wonderful - and while I never thought of the Amnesia attack as something permanent, It was a very interesting concept.

While I cannot be completely sure of the PokeMon's identity, I'm pretty sure that it's one of those confounded psychic godmodiacs that were so overused in RBY (like Mewtwo or Alakazam) - and this story actually managed to bring me to pity it - caught in his own lack of memory, doing things for his trainer because he doesn't remember any other way...

Heh, the statement in the beginning, about wondering what would happen if he forgot how to forget, was also wonderfully put.

Excellent work. ^_^
 

Negrek

Lost but Seeking
Well, I'm back from vacation now, so I can reply...

Sike Saner

Thanks much for your review. I'm glad that you found the wording good and not prohibiting--I thought this one was pretty dense when I read it over myself.

Kutie Pie

Wow, quite the review there. Let's see...

Amnesia? A popular move in R/B/Y? I don't remember that...
Yep. Because the special stat was combined, the attack raised both special attack and defense at once, and by two levels... more or less two calm minds in one turn. Since psychic was already overpowered and many psychics got this move, it was ridiculously popular.

What's he mean there're are only months left? I didn't get it.
Months of memories, that is. He can only remember the last few months of his life.

And Mewtwo has family?
No, he doesn't. But he doesn't realize that he's different from other pokemon, aside from the fact that he's more powerful than them. He assumes not only that there must be others of his species, but that he was born just like all the others, had a home in the wild, had a family of some sort (at least parents), etc.

Thanks a bunch for reviewing. I'm glad you liked the story.

Act

The syntax there seems a tad odd to me.
>_< That's because the subject of the second clause is incorrect... it should be "why should you not" for the sentence to actually mean something. Thanks much for pointing that one out.

He is by talking to humans, you say to her.

What?
Crap. That sentence was altered after I put the 'fic up various places. Looks like I messed up while trying to transfer the change here. Now it's fixed for real.

How depressing. ;.;
...I just realized that all my one-shots can pretty much be summed up by that sentence. I ought to lighten up a bit.

Edit: Okay, all but one. Whatever.

Eh, this one isn't my favorite, either. I'm glad you liked it overall, though. Thanks, as always, for the wonderful review.

lightkeeper

Individual description? XD That's a comment I haven't gotten before. Thank you very much for reviewing, and I'm glad that you enjoyed the story.

StellarWind

I'm glad you think I did the POV well--I've never been very confident about the way I portray pokemon, so I'm pleased to hear you say that you thought it was sufficiently not-human. I'm also glad that you were able to sympathize with the main character. Thank you very much for the review and the ego boost.
 
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